Beef Ambassador

We had a new mother on our farm on Mothers Day this year. So now we have a new little heifer scampering around the pasture. It is truly amazing to see how the cattle go through different stages of life and know exactly what is going on out of instinct. When humans go through child birth we are told exactly what will happen, what we need to do to prepare, and amazingly we still freak out! Cattle on the other hand have amazing insite to the whole process without our help. This particular birth was done completely by the first calf heifer which is what us farmers like to see! She had no trouble and even though my dad was there keeping a close eye on her, she was able to have the baby completely on her own.

I got home in time to see her trying to stand and being a little shaky on her feet. The funniest part of the process is watching the calf trying to stand and walk on their own and get used to their new legs. Several times a small lick from the proud mama would knock the calf right over, and not very gracefully I might add. Then the thing that really fascinates me started. The calf started looking for milk…they just know what to do! She knew that she needed that colostrum to grow strong and healthy! Now at first she was trying to find it in the brisket which as you can imagine wasn’t very successful. Then she made her way back, after several encouraging nudges from mom,  to the utter. Another thing that was interesting was the mom getting the calf to walk. The calf would get up and clumsily make her way over to her and then mama would back up a few steps to push her a little further. Mama knows what she’s doing.

The baby has been spending a lot of time sleeping which proved difficult for my other role as photographer today. She was nowhere to be found in the tall grass and mama was very proud. I’m pretty sure she was laughing at me while I walked around the pasture trying to find the baby.

I am ready for the running stage! They are so cute with their tails straight up in the air running through the pasture. But for now she will be looked over by her mom and will be taught the lessons of life in an unspoken language. Animals are truly amazing creatures!

RB

As some of you may have heard there was a cow that tested positive for Bovine Spongiform Encepalopathy (BSE), also known as Mad Cow Disease, yesterday April 24, 2o12.  The animal was a dairy cow from central California that was never presented for slaughter for human consumption. I think the farmer suspected this illness and turned it in for testing should be applauded. This BSE case should not cause consumers to stray from beef if anything it shows how observant the farmers are in caring for their cattle and insuring food safety. All US Beef is safe for the consumer. 

There have been a lot of concerns on BSE with the consumer and cattle producers know that. The good news is that there are many food safety practices that are in affect for BSE to never enter into the food supply. In 1997 the Food and Drug Administration, with full support from the beef industry, banned protein supplements from cattle feed that could spread BSE. BSE is not a contagious disease, it can only spread through contaminated feed so this was an obvious solution. The brain and spinal chord are also removed before the animal is presented into the food supply to prevent food contamination.

With all of these efforts established there is less than one infected animal per million cattle in the United States. BSE is not found in Steaks or Roasts. And the consumer can still be confident that beef is a safe and savory product for their families!

Hey Ya’ll I’ve missed my BEEF friends!!

I do apologize for my long absence on the site. School’s had me bogged down with homework and I haven’t had the time to get my blogs posted in enough time. I know this was a couple blog posts ago but, Kim shared with the rest of you all how sustainable beef and other agriculture industries are. Not only do we want to produce more food with less land, but we want to continue to make sure we’re treating the environment such as the land and soil with the utmost respect in order to continue our way of life with farming. It’s important to understand how our actions affect one another and even if you aren’t a farmer yourself, you can still help our fight in making the environment sustainable for future generations. Although our blog primarily relates to beef nutrition and education of how cattle are raised, let’s think out of the box for a

moment and really appreciate the value of a simple piece of “dirt”.  “Dirt” or soil as most of us agricultural farmers and ranchers like to call it is the origin at which all life stems from. Our food is grown within, buildings are built upon it, it’s a natural air conditioner for the earth, and we are essential comprised of the very beings of this soil. Our beloved BEEF is one of those beings that depends on the quality of soil in order to produce a nice delicious and juicy steak. We as human beings cannot break down cellulose, a major building block in many plants.. Our bodies are just not designed to eat bland foods (: ! So we’ve worked out a deal with the thousands of cattle across the nation and for an exchange of free roaming privileges in our nation’s finest fields we’ve asked cattle to use their super complex stomach to break down the cellulose that our mere human bodies just can’t seem to digest like glucose.

For some, it may be shocking that something as simple as dirt has an effect on how our cattle are raised, but it’s the simple truth. Cattle are grazed on 2/3 of land in the United States that isn’t suitable for raising crops. Although these areas may not be suitable for crops to be grown due to the location of fields such as mountains, it is still important to make sure that we as a nation think of our actions and what the effects can result in either by soil quality or the quality of the grazing area for our cattle.  Did you know that cattle ranchers and farmers have a strong passion for the land? Over the last several years the NCBA has handed out several land stewardship awards to ranches and farms all across the United State for their participation in making the resources such as soil, rich and healthy for generations to come. Even if you don’t come from a farming background, you can help in this movement to make sustainability well known by following land management practices yourself. Recycle anytime you can whether that’s at work, school, and when you’re at home. The next time you’re about to throw out your leftovers, try starting a compost pile to use on your next garden project as fertilizer. By using organic matter such as compost, you are actually contributing to the soil and resupplying what you might have taken out nutritionally. Overtime the compost will start to decompose and organic matter will start to form and layer over the earth just like any other natural cycle.

Be sure to also visit explorebeef.org  and discover how farmers and ranchers all over the United States are giving back to the soil and making great beef in the process!

Please stop by to visit http://pathtosustainableliving.com/2012/sustainable-soil-management-practices-for-the-garden/ and find ways of contributing back to mother nature through soil and compost.

With a Cattle Calling,

Arika

As cattle farmers we take pride in raising healthy animals that result in a healthy meal for our families and others. We all share compassion for not only our animals but also our industry. I have grown up within the beef industry and feel like we develop not only a great product but also a great community with the other farmers.

In high school I had a group of friends from school that I would go to dinner or the movies with and hang out with during the week. But when show season came around during the summer and fall I got to see what I called my “cow friends” aka my friends that showed cows. Now don’t get me wrong I liked my friends from school but the friends that showed with me shared my passion for cattle. We knew about responsibility and how the animals get fed before you get to eat and get groomed no matter what kind of shape your own hair was in. My “cow friends” were my closest friends because I related to them so well and they understood how my life worked.

My friend Luke cutting up the beef sporting his I heart Beef apron!

Now that I am in college I have developed a new set of friends. They are sort of a mix between my school and cow friends. A lot of them have been raised around livestock not specifically cattle but they have the drive like me to learn more about animals. I am active in the Animal Science Club here at NC State and that is where I have met some of my closest friends. Last night we had a joint meeting with the Poultry Science Club and ate some great beef which you can see my friend Luke cutting up in the picture. I can sit around and talk to the members of this club and I feel like we relate really well. A lot of these club members grew up on farms or want to have a job dealing with animals in the future. We share a love for animals and know what responsibility is needed to ensure the animals are healthy.

I participated in the National Student Exchange Program at Kansas State University this past fall. I got to travel around the midwest touring farms and it was amazing to see the way these people ran their operations. Every phone call I made got a definite yes when I asked if I could visit. This is what I am talking about when I say “Beef Community”. We are willing to let other beef producers come eat tour and stay with us at our farms. If someone is on a long drive there is always someone you know nearby that has cattle and is willing to let you lay over for a night. I decided to stay in the west during Thanksgiving this year to do a little more traveling during the semester. I traveled to three different farms, two in Oklahoma and one in Texas. These families not only let me tour their farms but also let me stay at their homes and eat with their families. I was even invited to eat Thanksgiving dinner with the families. I love how close I am to the beef community and I call them my closest friends. The funny thing is I have never seen most of their homes, I only get to see them a few times a year, and even though that’s the case they are the people I am closest to and I know they will always be there for me. We should really cherish the fact that we have such a strong bond with the others in our industry. We have a great “Beef Community”.

Rossie

One thing that I think is cool about beef cattle and the people who raise them is all of the new ways we are constantly improving.  This comes from things such as better using our resources to communicating better with our customers. This past week I was visiting Wulf Limousin a local beef farm and felt there were some cool innovations they were doing that I wanted to share. The first thing was something that I am very interested in and that is renewable energy. As we know cattle are already unique in the fact that they turn unusable grass into a delicious food but now the manure they leave behind is also valuable. Using methane digesters it is now possible to harvest the natural energy from the manure and turn it into electricity. The manure can also then be used as fertilizer to grow the crops as well as in some cases be dried down and used as potting soil or a soft bedding for the cattle. This is just another way that technology is helping us improve our practices and care better for the land and the planet.

Another innovation that I think is very cool was this family’s effort to start agri-tourism on their farm. Although while I was there this was still in the planning stage they hope to work with other types of farms in the area such as dairy, swine and poultry as well as crops to show those interested where their food comes from. They also the past couple of years have set up a small setting with many species showing what a farm was like in the early 1900’s to show the progress we have made. I would strongly encourage anyone who is interested in where there food comes from to find a farm to tour and see for yourself the great things that beef producers are doing today.

Cow Calf update: Cow and calf are doing well! the calf had to be treated for the disease scours this week however the treatment has brought his health right back to normal and he is growing faster than ever.

You would be proud to know that I received a 99% on my sales presentation today. What did I sell???? BEEF OF COURSE! I asked about beef recipes but then realized I had a class right before my presentation time so I didn’t have any prep time for a steak. Instead I sold him the convenient beef jerky.

Now for a serious note. I am in Environmental Ethics right now and our assignment last week really opened my eyes to how my peers view the livestock industry. Our question was do you think eating meat is ethical? We should all be proud to know that all fourteen group members said that they believe eating meat is ethical. That means that they do trust our industry to a certain degree. But even though they all believe eating meat is ethical some had some pretty strong opinions about how the animals are raised.

People are confused about the industry

The main comments that disturbed me were “Watching any behind the scenes footage from a cattle ranch or a chicken coop you can see the absolute filth and disgust these animals live in.” “Animals are provided with the bare minimum to survive” and ” I am fine with local farms but I have no tolerance for the industrial farming where the meat is raised and slaughtered in bulk.”

I responded to these statements letting them know that we try to keep our animals in clean environments and keep them healthy and happy to make sure that they are getting the best product possible. I also debunked the fact that animals are provided the bare minimum to survive, we as farmers need our animals to be healthy when they go to harvest otherwise we won’t have enough product to stay a farmer  for very long. I also told them that we hate seeing the footage of animal abuse too, and might get even more upset than they do because they are giving our livelihood a bad name.  No animal should be harmed or made to suffer, as farmers we believe that to be very important. And for the last one, there are huge family owned farms, a lot of our consumers believe that if there is concrete or technology that the farm must be factory owned. But that is not true because we need these new ideas and innovations to be an efficient industry that can produce protein for the world.

I tried to respond to their concerns calmly and even invited them to my farm to show them that we care for our animals. It is our job as beef producers to spread the positive views of animal agriculture and let them know that we do not accept animal abuse in our industry and the people that are caught are being punished and we are ok with that. I want my classmates to say it is ethical to eat meat and not have any doubt in their mind when they go to the meat counter at their grocery store. We need to spread the word that we love our animals and want meat to be as safe as possible for the consumer.

Hey there!

This week I had some big news! My first calf ever was born. I had all of my past experience working with larger calves in my families fedlot. So as you can expect I was very nervous and excited this week waiting for my heifer Xandra’s calf to be born. Because I knew the day my heifer was bred I could estimate about when the calf would come and with 9 months of pregnancy she was due this week. Because I was back at school in South Dakota I was spending quite a bit of time on the phone checking in on how she was doing. The whole time fingers crossed that she would wait until the weekend to have her calf. This brings me to my new series of blogs that I will be writing, Cow calf update. Every week at the end of my blog I will update every0ne on how my cow calf pair is doing.

My uncle TIm and cousin Allison helping out with his first time nursing.

Lets start with week one. This Friday as soon as I got back from school I headed straight to the calving barn to check on things like I usually do. I came just in time. I could see a black heifer laying down on her side when I walked up but couldn’t tell which one it was. The closer I got the more I realized that this heifer was in labor and about to calve. Then her head popped up and I realized it was MY heifer! At this point my nervousness turned into a little bit of a panic. I felt like an expected father rushing to the hospital. I could see little hooves sticking out and that was the sure sign that this calf was coming now! I calmed myself made a few phone calls for advice and waited. I waited half an hour and with no progress called the vet. The vet ended up having to assist with the birth and even I had to lend a hand in my dress clothes (I had just given my speech at school and had not changed). With the assistance of the vet she gave birth to a healthy, very big bull calf. He is now up and running around and nursing well. Xandra (the cow) is mothering well and is nursing and raising him very well so far for a first time mama. Now I’m looking to all of the Beef ambassador blog readers to help me find a name for my little bull calf. Because his ear tag is 1z I was hoping for something starting in Z.

Look to next weeks blog to see how Xandras little calf is doing in Cow calf update #2!

Hello All!

I’m back once again to discuss a brand new topic thats waiting for feedback! Since I was a little kid I’ve had the occasional fast food cheeseburger from the highly popular franchise McDonalds. I’ve wondered as well as many others probably of how they get a burger to taste so good. Many people will tell you the myths of where McDonalds’ burgers come from, but in reality most don’t understand is that our very own American farmers and ranchers work each and everyday to ensure that there is still supply for the well known burger joint.

If you haven’t seen McDonalds newest commericial ads yet, I suggest you click this link and check it out for yourself. I can personally tell you that this is one of the best ads I have seen from McDonalds in a long time and it really tells the story of why their product is so good.  You’ll noticed its not like other ads that McDonalds has produced before in the past, like “Come try our delicious burger, mouth watering juicy flavor… ” Although this tends to drive consumers to the fast food chains, some still are wary of fast food and where their food truly comes from.

Steve Foglesong, a cattle rancher from Vermont, Illinois is one of the many farmers that supplies McDonalds’ with it’s beef. In the commercial he shows consumers his family run cattle ranch and explains the daily life of a beef rancher. Once an abandoned coal mining site, Foglesong’s ranch has now transformed into a 5,000 acre cattle ranch. He currently has a herd of approximately 6,000 cattle and is currently one of the major suppliers for the fast food chain.  He takes pride in what he does each and everyday and makes sure that consumers are consuming a product that he himself would serve to his own family.

So just remember that the next time you’re out of the house and need something quick to eat at the local McDonalds, that burger you’re eating has been cared for and properly handled so that you can enjoy a delicious meal. Farmers and ranchers have a twenty-four hour job that continues to put obstacles in front of them to overcome and they do this all for the thousands of consumers around the nation and in the world. Nothing is more important for a farmer or rancher than knowing that they have produced a safe,wholesome and nutritious product from the labor of their own hands.

With a Cattle Calling,

Arika Snyder

Hey ya’ll,

This week as I started classes once again, I seemed to have a new look on the semester. Instead of being bogged down my multiple papers, test, exams and reading assignments I’ve committed myself to being a better student. In doing so, I have felt more engage and involved with my classes, not because I have to but, because I want to influence others around me with the knowledge I will learn while attending college. Interestingly enough, I decided this semester to take and AG Ethics class. The definition of ethics is a moral norm of an individual or a group and the morality is a person’s beliefs of feelings concerning their values, rules and principles. I know what you’re all thinking right now as you read this: “Arika we all know what ethics are, why are you trying to teach us a lesson in ethics?”  The truth is, ethics is vitally important, especially in the agriculture industry.

My professor decided that we would take part of the class time to discuss any current ethical issues in agriculture. As we all known, one of the most talked about issues is the use of antibiotics on livestock. I personally believe that antibiotics should be used in livestock production because it is essential for the animal’s health as well for the farmer to produce quality product. If you neglect to treat an animal for such illnesses, it can have a negative outcome for the animal as well as the producer.  Many consumers though, believe that it is not ethical to treat animals for diseases via antibiotics due to misconceptions of such drugs.  Antibiotics are also known as antimicrobials that fight bacterial infections. These drugs specifically to the beef industry are to help cattle regain or maintain superior health and produce safe beef.  Antibiotic use should be limited to prevent or control disease and should not be used if the direct intent is to improve performance.  A comment was made by a non-agriculture student in my ethics class that the opposing side would view consuming animals that have taken antibiotics as unhealthy and unsafe to consumers. He believed that animals given antibiotics could be consumed by a consumer, resulting in a harmful effect on the human’s body.

After reading the “good bye” blogs of this past years team it is so hard to get in a mindset of writing something serious and factual! However, this holiday season

A screen shot of the Beef Market Central off of my iPhone

I started thinking about the New Year, and with a new year comes change. Change in perspective, change in our day to day lives, but most of all, the kind of change called progress. I really wanted to comment on progress, particularly technology. Its hard to wrap my head around how much technology influences our lives. We’ve all heard thousands of times how great technology is and how much it can do, but seeing the possibilities with your own eyes changes how you hear those lines. This year my brother, one of the most technologically challenged people that I know, got an iPhone. I personally thought that it was a relationship that would end soon, but he became attached quite quickly and started figuring out all of the features. Within 15 minutes of owning the phone, he had found and downloaded an app called “Beef Market Central”. I personally had never heard of it, but the features on this app are pretty cool! He learned that you can follow the markets of beef in the auction ring, price of beef per pound (broken down by cut), and also you can follow links to articles on critical issues for the beef industry. I was blown away. Someone as opposed to technology as my brother had found such a stockpile of information so quickly. Seeing that really did open my eyes to the endless possibilities of technology and how it can enhance agriculture, particularly my favorite sector, the beef industry. I then started running through what amazing technology is out RIGHT NOW. We’ve all seen a huge surge in technology already with video sales, ultrasound inspections in beef processing plants, and electronics available for the average rancher. For example, a company makes an electronic ear tag for cattle that can store information such as birth date, what vaccinations it received and when, and health history. These tags can be read as a group from a distance with a small scanner, saving time and labor. Feed companies use similar tags as well as videos to monitor the health of their animals constantly, keeping a better eye on them than solely hand checking every yard. This tags can also be used as a personal access key for cattle too, their particular ear tag matches up to a certain feed bunker that opens for them. This allows the feed company to gather more accurate calculations for measuring conversion ratios of cattle and the efficiency of their product. These are only a shallow surface to the amount of technology that the beef industry has at its finger tips. I have always considered myself a really traditional kind of person, and tradition means a lot to me, as I’m sure it does for most ranchers like me. I know that this much technology can seem overwhelming, or like it is taking over the jobs of the average rancher, but being able to feed an ever growing world population is our goal. I just want to send out a line for farmers and ranchers to keep their minds open to the technologies that present themselves. Not all change is bad change.

– Kim Rounds